


That's Just a Little Bit Gay, Isn't It?

by melonbun



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non idol AU, Fluff, Kanata and Chiaki are married, Kaoru pops in one day with Souma, M/M, Multi, and pining and confusion ensues, his son, my first fanfic!!!!, squints I should cap these tags to look more professional but yA I'M EXCITED!!!, the oddballs run a preschool
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-05
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-11-09 06:07:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11098497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melonbun/pseuds/melonbun
Summary: What on earth are you supposed to do when your high school crush comes slamming back into your life and so do those feelings of yours? You wouldn't think twice about it because you love your husband and your kids more than anything else, except your husband might also have rekindling feelings for the same person.Now what?





	1. And So it Begins

**Author's Note:**

> sLAM DUNKS boy was I feeling creative this weekend hot dang I drew a thing and then wrote my first ever fic. I love!!! The fact that school is ending!!!!
> 
> So yA this is my first fic, sits on the floor, please excuse any gross mischaracterizations I don't think it should happen but I haven't read through all the stories yet. I just wanted to write some fluff for my OT3 and I'm just here for a good time.
> 
> I'd like to thank my chat mom for agreeing to beta for me, love you Cel 'v')b

As usual, their morning routine was chaos. Between Tetora seemingly competing with himself as to how energetic he could be while getting ready, Shinobu climbing onto things and dashing around the house-followed by a happily barking Ryuusei, and Midori slinking off to hide when nobody was looking, Chiaki had his hands full corralling everybody back into order while Kanata prepared breakfasts and lunches. Thank goodness today wasn’t one of those days where Shinobu joined Midori in hiding, (“a ninja always wins when it comes to disappearing jitsu degozaru!”) he was even better at it than his brother due to his small frame. That they only had to go back inside once (Tetora had forgotten his mittens) and didn’t have to clean any spills was a wonder in itself. Chiaki drove them along the snow covered street while Tetora and Shinobu chatted animatedly in the back, Midori pitching in every once in a while when his brothers reeled him into their conversation about Santa Claus.

 

Chiaki looked up into the rearview mirror to see his children and then over at his partner while stopped at a red light and Kanata softly tipped his head and smiled. Kanata, seeming to read his mind as always, reached over to grab his hand and squeezed, an outlet for his sudden burst of affection. His eyes looked up from the silver wedding band back to his own on the steering wheel and he drove off again.

 

Pulling up to the preschool Kanata co-ran, Shinobu gasps excitedly to then ask, “Papa, can we build snowmans today?” 

 

Turning to look at Shinobu he says, “hmm? I ‘think’ that might just be something we have ‘planned’ today, shall we go inside and see?”

 

Shinobu lights up and all but hits his brothers with his arms flapping in excitement. Chiaki and Kanata get out of the car to open the doors and while Shinobu quickly exits then bounces in anticipation waiting for his goodbye kiss, Midori clings stubbornly to the seat.

 

“It’s cold. Don’t wanna move Papa,” he mumbles into his scarf.

 

“Hmm? But it’s ‘warm’ inside, ‘green bean.’ And who will say ‘hi’ to Mr. Snuffles if not you?”

 

Midori looks up suspiciously, like he knows he’s being tricked but his Papa really does have a good point, he has to say hi to Mr. Snuffles and Pengy and Ellie the Elephant and Mrs. Pepper, and even if he doesn’t want to make snowmen he can always sit inside with Mr. Shu. So he begins shuffling his way out of the car to be met with a warm kiss on the forehead from his Dad who then turns and does the same to his Papa. His Dad gets back into the car, off to become a cool acrobat hero, and his Papa holds his hand as Shinobu and Tetora race to the entrance.

 

“Be ‘careful!’ If you ‘run’ you’ll ‘trip’ you know,” but there’s no mistaking the warm smile on Kanata’s face.

 

*

Shinobu and Tetora are met with a not-as-warm (though not cold) reprimand from Mr. Shu once they start tracking snow inside. Midori does indeed go off to say hi to the stuffed animals; setting them up in a line on a window sill only to be joined by Sora Harukawa once his father drops him off. Shinobu talks with Hinata and Yuuta, and Tetora helps Kanata set up the tables. He pats his son on the head with a “thank you, Tetts,” and leaves him to it. As Tetora lays out an even number of colored pencils per table and gets distracted by the paper ornaments that have been printed out for them ,  he almost misses Mitsuru dashing by and off he goes (only to be called out by Mr. Shu again three seconds later).

 

Kanata’s crouched down at a bookshelf debating if there’s any point in bringing out the number blocks when they’ll be playing in the snow and then coloring ornaments. 

They’re expecting a new child to join today according to Rei. Natsume has therefore taken position at the door while Wataru, Rei, and Shu divide their attention among the children. Just as he decides there isn’t a point he hears a “Kanata?” that seems to be directed at him. The voice seems familiar but he can’t place it and he stands up and turns around only to be met with the brown eyes of one Kaoru Hakaze.

 

“Eh?” His eyes widen slightly and he winds up gaping like a fish. He’s only broken out of his trance when Kaoru lifts his hand to the back of his neck starts speaking again.

 

“Ah! I thought that was you! It’s been a while! What a cool set-up you oddballs have going on for you, Souma starts here today.” Kanata’s momentarily blindsided by his wide, slightly sheepish smile but then his eyes follow Kaoru’s hand as he points over to a stern looking preschooler surrounded by kids while Natsume facilitates introductions.

 

“Souma?”

 

“Mm, my son. I’d love to catch up but I really have to go, I’ll see you in a bit when I come to pick him up.”

 

And just like that Kaoru’s whipped back into his life and out of the door.


	2. *Buzzer Noise* You're Not Getting Away That Fast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hOO BOY HOW ABOUT THAT EVENT IN 15 MINS, it's 2 AM and my eyes burn, pls let Sora be points
> 
> Thank you to my lovely beta Vi ❤⃛ヾ(๑❛ ▿ ◠๑ )
> 
> Here we go!!

Chiaki sneezes. And loudly. One of those sneezes that scare away a bunch of deer who are just trying to have a good time. All of a sudden he got a shiver, like the world flipped on its axis and everything got turned inside out for a millisecond or a demon just tried to possess him. Or maybe he’s just catching a cold. When he’s called back to filming the incident is forgotten entirely.

*

The kids are out playing in the snow, Midori included. Kanata stands propped against the entrance desk and looks on at Souma. The child had taken a liking to Shinobu since earlier that day.

 

_ Shinobu was busy working on his drawing of a frog, completely ignoring the other side of the paper with its gingerbread house. The new boy, Souma, was sitting across from him. And he had purple hair too but he seemed kind of scary. He glanced up only to see Souma squinting at his blob of green. And Souma, probably wondering why Shinobu had stopped all of a sudden, met his eyes for a second before looking away just as quickly, then grabbing a red crayon from the center. _

 

_ Shinobu blinked and cocked his head to the side before picking up his sheet. He held it next to his face while he grinned broadly and asked, “do you like frogs too?” _

 

_ Souma frowned just slightly, “ah...I thought it might be a turtle...” _

 

_ Shinobu glanced quickly at his drawing, thinking, nope, it was most certainly a frog no matter how you looked at it. But instead of saying that he continued grinning and said, “turtles are nice too!! Papa loves all sorts of sea animals! Do you like turtles?” _

 

Then Souma’s eyes lit up as he started to talk about how much he loved turtles and his own turtle specifically (Kanata hadn’t caught the name because he was then called over by Hajime) but the boys were getting along well after that. They crouched together at the side of the yard and made little snow mounds. Turtles and frogs if he had to guess, though they certainly didn’t look like it from this distance.

 

Kanata was curious, because he and Kaoru had both been in the marine bio club back in school, so he wondered if that was a trait he got from his mother or father. He wondered what else he might have in common with his father. Their eye shape was sort of similar but the colors were jarringly different. Kaoru was coming to pick him up so did that mean the mother was off somewhere? And Kaoru had called him his son but were they biologically related? And now Kanata couldn’t help think of a faceless woman with purple hair and lavender eyes that had managed to steal Kaoru’s heart; he wondered how long they’d been married, but had he seen a wedding ring? He was too caught up with the fact that  _ Kaoru _ was in front of him that he hadn’t thought to check so he made a mental note to check when he came back. What if he wasn’t married? Does that mean that he and Chia-

 

“Kanata.”

 

He blinked his way out of his thoughts after being called by Shu. Shu pointed at the pen he had been thoughtlessly drumming against the desk and said, “if something’s bothering you speak up. You’ve been more out of it today than usual.”

 

Kanata fixed him with a pout.  “It’s nothing.”

 

“Fufufu…..could it be? Love!” Wataru announces as he enters from the cold, followed by a line of rosy-cheeked toddlers, who waddle their way over to their cubbies, and then Rei and Natsume.

 

Kanata turns to direct his pout at Wataru and elects to brush some snow out of his hair instead of answering. Then bends down to help Yuta because he got his mittens stuck in his jacket and can’t get them off.

 

“Ahahaha!  ☆ Worry not dear friend, for everything shall work out!”

 

“He’s not married nor is he dating, you know. Ah to be young…” Rei pipes in. 

 

Wataru “fufufu’s” again as he grabs two cups of the hot chocolate Shu had prepared for everybody. He hands one to Rei and Natsume each, or at least tries to. Natsume refuses as he managed to draw one up out of thin air.

 

Kanata frowns, “is this not a ‘serious’ matter?”

 

Natsume smiles from behind his cup, “I don’t think it will be a Problem. Your fortune looks Favorable.”

 

*

Kaoru arrives neither early nor late to pick up Souma. Kanata’s grateful that Souma seems to be caught up in a conversation with Shinobu about something because it gives him time to accost Kaoru before he can call his son over. He’s a tad bit scared that if he lets Kaoru walk out the door again he won’t come back tomorrow, just like all those years ago. 

 

“Kaoru!” 

 

The man looks away from Souma and he smiles, “ah I’m glad he seems to be fitting in well! I was a bit worried because sometimes he’s a little bit standoffish, y‘know?”

 

Kanata gestures happily, “mm-mm, he and Shinobu are ‘getting along’ perfectly! I’m glad too ♪“

 

The air tenses as Kaoru takes note of the silver band on Kanata’s finger before he slips on a smile that may seem just a bit too tight around the edges, “that’s good then.”

 

There’s no way Kanata doesn’t notice so he tries to stall Kaoru with, “have you just ‘moved’ here?”

 

“I think it might actually just be temporary. Rei was kind enough to allow Souma to join on such short notice.”

 

Kanata feels his stomach drop  and he has to gulp before he can respond, “‘temporary?’-” 

 

And Kaoru nods with that forced smile of his and drives the conversation away from himself by saying, “and how have you been?”

 

Kanata hates the way Kaoru’s eyes seem to be looking anywhere but his right now. Chiaki was always able to read him through his eyes and so was Kaoru, so if he would just  _ look _ he would see all of the hope and the love and the yearning and sadness and hurt under their wet sheen but  _ he won’t look _ and he won’t let Kanata in and Kaoru’s going to leave him, leave them, leave  _ again _ , before they can get their second chance and if Chiaki were here right now maybe he could help because his throat’s too busy closing up but he’s not until- 

 

“KAORU!”

 

And all of a sudden Kaoru’s met with a full speed sprint of a figure clad in red. Kanata quickly blinks his tears away, a choked laugh making its way out of his throat as he watches Kaoru pinwheel his arms to keep from tumbling over.

 

Chiaki grasps Kaoru’s shoulders and looks him straight in the eyes, a blazing expression you couldn’t possibly tear your eyes away from and exclaims, “it’s you! It’s really you!”

 

Kaoru smiles widely just like before he saw Kanata’s wedding ring and laughs, “it’s good to see you too Chiaki!”

 

Tetora copies his father by running full sprint into his leg. He’s then followed by Midori and Shinobu with Souma. Kaoru bends down to Souma’s level to ask, “ready to go little guy?”

 

“A-actually!” Kaoru looks at Shinobu who seems to be quaking in his boots, “w-we were wondering if Souma could come over for a playdate? Midori and Tetora think it’s a good idea and I want to show Souma Keropi and Geropi! Souma can bring Kame...his turtle too!”

 

He looks at the three adults in turn and Kaoru finally connects the dots, he turns to check Chiaki’s finger and when he sees the matching band his smile disappears just for a second before he plasters one back on.

 

“Maybe another time, hmm, Souma?”

 

And he stands back up and grabs hold of Souma’s hand but Souma’s too busy being wooed by Shinobu’s puppy eyes. Souma turns a similar expression to his father and with a wince Kaoru goes, “okay…” Shinobu cheers while Midori and Tetora exchange grins.

 

“Perfect! Let’s all exchange numbers then!” Chiaki exclaims as he pulls out his phone.

 

“Would ‘Saturday’ work for you?”

 

Kaoru nods and pockets his phone after it gets pinged by both Chiaki and Kanata. After Souma says his goodbyes, Kaoru silently waves while leading his son out.

 

Chiaki turns to look at his husband with concerned eyes but Kanata softly shakes his head, signalling to let it be for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cackles, I was all like "oh yeah my first fic!! I'm gonna update regularly and it's gonna be great!!" BUT HEY!! At least it didn't get lost to the void and I have a rough idea of all the events in the story so I'm p sure I'll be seeing it all the way through to the end!! Honestly this actually lots of fun! And I feel so powerful, I'm gonna be the little gremlin who writes fics for all my rare ships bC HEY!! I CAN DO THAT!!!!
> 
> Thank you for reading this far!!! (/^▽^)/

**Author's Note:**

> HOT DANG I'M CACKLING I spent so much time on this and it's so little PBLPBLPLT LMAO Also the spacing is different on google docs, sorry the enters are so large here. But let me know what you thought please!!! CC is welcome (I've been told I get a bit comma happy/semicolon hoardish and I speak in run on sentences therefore I write in them OTL so lmao) but hey if you're just gonna bash don't waste your time my dude lmao.
> 
> Thank you for reading this far!!! (o≧∇≦)o
> 
> EDIT: I once saw an author do a cool thing where they asked a question at the end of each chapter to engage with peeps, so how did you end up at this fic? ovo


End file.
